One year ago today: March 20, 2024, he don’t like trains.
Five years ago today: March 20, 2020, the fake plague scare.
Nine years ago today: March 20, 2016, and so do you.
Random years ago today: March 20, 2007, trailer court freebies.
50°F. The new clock makes navigation a lot easier. At this time, the Sun’s GHA is 355°51’ at a declination of S00°09’. That means the Sun should travel north across the Equator later today. The French President has advised people in the event of a nuclear war to “stay indoors”. This morning I watch another video on transistor biasing with an odd appeal. The narrator is a mess, but since that is how most electronics is taught, I’m getting something out of this. I read another chapter on plotting a line of position, which always seems a favorite, second only to taking a sextant reading. Must be a Hollywood thing.
What would I change? I’d make the bench one piece wider. I’d saw off the ends, as this is where I found most of the splintering would occur when I went to fit the joints. I would pay more attention to which sides face up and out, making them flattest during the glue-up stage. I don’t trust the glue and would probably think of some other way to keep the planks solidly fastened together, like maybe a long dowel or a long bolt, which I have experience with building toothpick cases.
Finishing. Even when planed to fresh new lumber, the piece is not quite showy enough for my liking. The original piece I saw was stained an orange color, kind of like old shellac. It gave it a good contract for most house plants. I will go through my supply of stains to see if I have any of that pecan left, work with me here. I am not a visual person and my favorite color is blue. It used to be pink. Now it is blue, so run along.
I put either one or two strong new braces under each flooring section before applying the jack. This is something I’ve done 24 times already on this cabin; it should have been routine. I pre-position support pylons, level them, then using another beam, carefully lift the old joists up to where there is just an eighth-inch clearance to slip the new joist into place. Release jack and let the floor rest on the new joists.
After a day or two, return to chock up anything that settles, and you are done. Until I got to the third (of five) joists today. The positioned support beam did not settle, but remained so tight I could not stand the new joist up into place. What is that fantastic aroma? Oh, that. Well, I threw on some garlic curry chicken to boil and now I’m making the rice using the broth.
What’s more, I found a small package of outdated grits in the back of the freezer, so granny raccoon eats good tonight. That’s the secondary aroma. And everybody who has ever done it knows food tastes so much better when it is made in an old pot on a two-burner hotplate.
Western South Dakota, I think.
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Thinking over that joist conumdrum, I see two solutions. One is to cut away more of the flooring, slip the plank under and use its own leverage to wedge into place. But, I had not planned on disturbing that section of the floor, as I cannot be sure I’d finish it before it gets too hot. The other option is do it the hard way, run yet another beam, this time parallel to the joists and raise the flooring, not the joist itself. This is probably the better solution but it means a lot of extra work. I say, that is directly under the worst part of the mess of wiring and pipes.
Here is the length of 2x4” I was able to smack apart. There is good glue coverage, but it seems to have dried funny. It peeled in two smooth even layers without detaching any splinters of wood. What am I dealing with here? Nor did the end pieces line up well despite how I used a jig and clamped them solidly. It’s all part of the learning curve. I cannot afford real wood glue for a project of this scope. Any reinforcement would have to be internal or take away from the simplicity of the design.
I’ve mapped out the plumbing changes the say I know JZ would except this will take days and means I have to keep the old system running in the meanwhile. This work reminds me how he sees these things a problems rather than adventures, but that’s an old tale from the trailer court. What’s new is the guitar player, but that poses another issue. I know you can’t be good and not dedicate a bit. The Prez & I will likely rehearse on Sunday, so I invited the new guy.
The response, while positive, did not convey much enthusiasm. He works for the city and mentioned “Spring Training”, meaning it is something to do with that big sports complex up on Highway 98. The soonest he can “get away” is two weeks from next Saturday. That explains why he is not already in a band. The Prez has to allow for open houses which rules out planning ahead, but it is not us that needs the practice. Didn’t I tell you about that? The facts that slowly emerge from the old club jam tell a different tale.
From our point of view, we were helping out the club and the guitar player, who only knew around 12 songs. The same 12 as all his buddies and anyone else likely to show up. Between him and Bradford, they quickly used up all the standards. The best jams there were when somebody new got up and we provided the backup. Now you’ve heard me mention how Keith (the host) would often let us play for an hour. We figured because the place was empty until 9:30 or so and he would not have to repeat his material.
Now the truth emerges, secondhand from Cathy’s sister, who has never heard us play, possibly she does not know I was connected with the show. I should have known, that arsehole Keith was trying to set up a pissing contest. He was inviting only other guitarists that he thought he could outplay. New people (other than me) never want to go first, meaning they’d show up while the Prez & I were already on stage. Keith had prepared them only to solo. Trust me, very few guitarists are going to try to showcase after my presentation—because that’s not what a jam is all about. Ha, did I ever tell you how Bradford was the only one who dared and he’d beg us to help him out, which I pointedly would not do.
Now the personality clashes and opposing philosophies come out. Where Bradford knew all he had to do was rehearse with us once or twice, which he never managed in the past seven years. My show is acoustic and bass, arranged for duo, and highly rehearsed for presentation to sound like a trio. Keith had not prepared his people for that. I mentioned how most of them just sat there. Now it makes sense, like Keith, they just wanted to show off. Which left them two choices. Play along with us and be a team member instead of the hero. Or get up after us and sound like just another solo guitarist. No wonder most of them just sat there. Florida is chock full of guitar heroes.
ADDENDUM
After watching several videos on the latest in robotics, I see the focus for many people is on humanoids. What’s more, the biggest market for these machines appears to be doing housework and chores “freeing families up for more enjoyable activities”. There are concerns ranging from loss of jobs to over-dependence, but the ubiquitous concern is worded as “loss of human contact” or “loss of interaction”. If you listen closely, however, the theme is different and quite creepy. It seems a small be very tightly-knit faction are sincerely concerned that they may not be allowed to impose themselves on others, but don’t come right out and say it.
I see the logic, how parasitic personalities would fight to prevent others from having the option to not associate, but don’t think I could agree making a law that says you must associate with them if that is what they want. (There are already enough problems with that concept in America over sex, race, religion, and orientation.) Imagine a world, where you could substitute a robot every time some jerkwad tried to obstruct you. They are not going to be happy, I can name lots of them. Bankers, protestors, feminists, HOAs, woketards. These sorts would exist only in isolation if others are ever given the choice to ignore them. It’s a situation they seem to fear even if it is hypothetical.
